Winter Journeyм

Muddy Waters left Chess only when the label folded upon its sale in the mid-'70s, but by that point he was in need of the kind of career revival that only comes with a new label and new set of collaborators. That's precisely what Muddy received in 1976, when he signed with Blue Sky Records and teamed up with the hotshot blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter, who produced Waters' acclaimed 1977 comeback, Hard Again, and its sequels, 1978's I'm Ready and 1981's King Bee, along with supporting Muddy for the 1979 concert set Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live. All four albums are cherry-picked for Raven's 2009 compilation The Johnny Winter Sessions 1976-1981, which also adds a cut from the 2003 deluxe edition of Live and Muddy's duet "Walking Thru the Park" from Winter's 1977 album, Nothin' But the Blues…

Muddy Waters left Chess only when the label folded upon its sale in the mid-'70s, but by that point he was in need of the kind of career revival that only comes with a new label and new set of collaborators. That's precisely what Muddy received in 1976, when he signed with Blue Sky Records and teamed up with the hotshot blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter, who produced Waters' acclaimed 1977 comeback, Hard Again, and its sequels, 1978's I'm Ready and 1981's King Bee, along with supporting Muddy for the 1979 concert set Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live. All four albums are cherry-picked for Raven's 2009 compilation The Johnny Winter Sessions 1976-1981, which also adds a cut from the 2003 deluxe edition of Live and Muddy's duet "Walking Thru the Park" from Winter's 1977 album, Nothin' But the Blues…

Muddy Waters left Chess only when the label folded upon its sale in the mid-'70s, but by that point he was in need of the kind of career revival that only comes with a new label and new set of collaborators. That's precisely what Muddy received in 1976, when he signed with Blue Sky Records and teamed up with the hotshot blues-rock guitarist Johnny Winter, who produced Waters' acclaimed 1977 comeback, Hard Again, and its sequels, 1978's I'm Ready and 1981's King Bee, along with supporting Muddy for the 1979 concert set Muddy "Mississippi" Waters Live. All four albums are cherry-picked for Raven's 2009 compilation The Johnny Winter Sessions 1976-1981, which also adds a cut from the 2003 deluxe edition of Live and Muddy's duet "Walking Thru the Park" from Winter's 1977 album, Nothin' But the Blues…

Aside from the fact that Rick Derringer seems to have lost the biggest part of his voice prior to this recording, the album serves as a rocking documentation of Winter in Japan, where he is revered as a star of the highest magnitude. And why not? After all, it was Edgar Winter who led that powerhouse rock & roll band called White Trash in the early '70s. Here, he recreates the sound of that band with "Fly Away" and "Keep Playing That Rock and Roll." And who can forget "Frankenstein" and "Free Ride," both played live here. Rick Derringer pulls out one from his All American Boy release, "Teenage Love Affair," and walks through his earliest hit with the McCoys, "Hang On Sloopy."

Second Winter, Johnny Winter's second album for Columbia, originally had the distinction of being the only album in rock history that was a three-sided double LP. Musically, 35 years after its original release, Second Winter is still an oddity. Issued by Sony's Legacy division, the set has been painstakingly remastered, and expanded by bonus cuts and an entire disc of live material. It's too bluesed-out to be a pure rock record, and too psychedelically dimensioned to be a pure blues album. Tommy Shannon calls it "power blues." And as for whatever else passed for blues-rock at the time – Cream, Hendrix, Canned Heat, etc. – forget it. This set is a whole different animal. Cut in Nashville with all tracks begin done within one or two takes, the energy of Second Winter is undeniable. The sheer range of styles Winter assaulted in his restless quest is astonishing too.

There has always been more to the Johnny Winter story than meets the eye, and if stepping into the role of a whirlwind albino electric blues guitar player from Texas with a brilliant slide style was the very role he was born to fill, he took a while to get there. For starters, he was born in Mississippi, which might explain something, and then grew up in Texas, where he played clarinet before switching over to guitar at the age of 11. Early on he played country before discovering the blues, and realizing there was no money and little future in playing the blues, he turned to studio pop in the early '60s. Times change, though, and by the end of that decade Winter had returned to the blues, where being an amazing electric guitar player with a roaring voice brought him his true calling. That's where this four-disc, 56-track box set picks up the story, the first such set to span the commercial and in-the-public-eye portion of Winter's career, beginning in 1968…

Entrance (1970). Edgar Winter came out of the chute kicking with this remarkable record filled with jazz, blues, and a little old-fashioned rock & roll. The record follows an established theme throughout its first side, stringing the songs together without breaks, highlighted by dreamy keyboard and sax work, plus Winter's smooth vocalizations. But jazz isn't the only thing Winter brings to the party. His first recorded version of the old J.D. Loudermilk tune "Tobacco Road" throws a few nice punches (although the live version with White Trash a few years later would prove the definitive one). "Jimmy's Gospel" plays on his early church influences, while "Jump Right Out" is the predecessor of half-a-dozen "jump up and dance" numbers Winter would pepper his records with in the years to come…

There has always been more to the Johnny Winter story than meets the eye, and if stepping into the role of a whirlwind albino electric blues guitar player from Texas with a brilliant slide style was the very role he was born to fill, he took a while to get there. For starters, he was born in Mississippi, which might explain something, and then grew up in Texas, where he played clarinet before switching over to guitar at the age of 11. Early on he played country before discovering the blues, and realizing there was no money and little future in playing the blues, he turned to studio pop in the early '60s. Times change, though, and by the end of that decade Winter had returned to the blues, where being an amazing electric guitar player with a roaring voice brought him his true calling. That's where this four-disc, 56-track box set picks up the story, the first such set to span the commercial and in-the-public-eye portion of Winter's career, beginning in 1968…

John Dawson Winter III album reissue with different title, different artwork and different running order of the tracks. John Dawson Winter III is the seventh studio album by Johnny Winter, released in 1974. John Dawson Winter III, known as Johnny Winter, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. Best known for his high-energy blues-rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s, Winter also produced three Grammy Award-winning albums for blues singer and guitarist Muddy Waters. After his time with Waters, Winter recorded several Grammy-nominated blues albums. In 1988, he was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and in 2003, he was ranked 63rd in Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".